What lessons can Hillary teach to Chelsea?;
The Missing Kid with Missing Teeth;
Let’s Hear it for Reunion Name Tags

The Mother of the Bride
What lessons can Hillary teach to Chelsea?

On Chelsea Clinton’s wedding day
I wonder what her mom will say.
Will Hillary be candid
’bout the demons she has faced?

Will she give Chelsea little clues
of what to look for when “I do”s
have been forgotten by her man
before they have been done?

Will she confess what she has learned
when overtures of love are spurned
and you are left to feel the shame
(betrayed and all alone)?

Or will she tell her daughter why
she gave her man another try
because she promised to be true
when what he vowed proved false?

I’m hoping that she does all three
for that is what dear Hillary
has come to know and now can give
as mother-of-the-bride.

The Missing Kid with Missing Teeth
Searching for Kyron (and answers)

The missing kid with missing teeth
(a pint-size victim of some thief)
has found a home within our hearts
though he remains at large.

He’d just completed second grade
with no real cause to feel afraid.
Sweet Kyron loved his Skyline School.
He loved his mom and dad.

That ready toothless childish grin
(his parents long to see again)
has been reduced to photographs
on posters and the news.

Those haunting posters with his face
are more than that. They make a case
for how within a God-blessed land
we’re stalked by evil still.

Dear God, be near this dad and mom
who try their best to stumble on
in search of answers (and the boy)
they loved with all their hearts.

Let’s Hear It for Reunion Nametags!
Reflections at a 40-year high school reunion

So many years have come and gone.
Recall the way we were?
Because we’ve traveled far and wide,
the memories have blurred.

Without your nametag, I’d be lost.
Without it, where’d I be?
In forty years you’ve really changed.
Surprisingly, not me!

I’d recognize me anywhere
(especially in the mirror).
I haven’t changed the way you have.
It’s really kind of weird!

You’ve put on pounds and lost your hair.
What’s left is turning white.
And I’m just like my yearbook pose.
Time hasn’t touched me. Right?

Ok, I lie. No one escapes.
Four decades dings us all.
But, what the heck! Who’s to impress?
Relax and have a ball!